A problem that has been experienced in the operation of rotary cutting systems stems from the fact that all cutting edges on the rotary blade must be maintained in a common cutting plane if the most efficient cutting action is to be obtained. Since all of the cutting edges must coact with a common stationary cutting edge, misalignment of one or more of the rotary edges may seriously degrade the quality of the cutting action and thus severely reduce the effectiveness of the entire cutting system.
Blade alignment problems may be resolved by utilizing a greater number of pre-aligned, integrally constructed components. However, use of integrally constructed components makes it more difficult to replace broken, worn or chipped parts such as cutting edges or blade teeth. From a repair standpoint, the ideal form of rotary sickle construction would provide a plurality of independently removable cutting teeth so that whenever a cutting edge is damaged it can be individually replaced. However, use of independently mounted cutting edges leads to substantial difficulties in maintaining the several cutting edges in proper alignment whereupon such systems require frequent adjustment and extensive maintenance which in turn leads to inefficient, unreliable and expensive operation.